If this becomes the official Patent Policy of the W3C, even current
standards (CSS 1 and 2, HTML 4) are not safe from retroactive patent
encumbrance.
Section 5.3 of the policy provides for the possibility of re-chartering
an existing Working Group under a new Licensing Mode (i.e., given that
no-one would have an incentive to change it the other way, re-chartering
an RF Working Group as a RAND Working Group.)
The Patent Advisory Group (the drafters of the new policy) can initiate
this process and (albeit after approval from the Director), all the
members get thrown out and have to be re-nominated, and *licensing
commitments made by Working Group members under the older charter are void.*
In other words, if the e.g. CSS Working Group were dissolved and
reconsituted in this way, companies could start charging licensing fees
for the patents they hold on current CSS standards - either under RAND,
or (worse) by withdrawing from the process completely and licensing
under discriminatory terms.
Who has CSS patents, and who would they like to discriminate against?
Gerv